I consider myself a late bloomer. My brother Brennan and I were born almost three months early and really had to fight our very baby best to stay alive. We were both only a pound or two when we were born. As Brennan jokes, “We were born ready! Wait, just kidding, we were premature.”

After spending the first month of our lives at Monmouth Medical Center, we were ready to begin to bloom in our hometown of Brick, New Jersey. Flash forward 18 years, those two struggling infants were ready to start the next big step in their lives; college.

Being the late bloomer I am, it took me awhile to mentally prepare myself for such a big step. I decided that commuting to Monmouth University was the way to go. I knew other kids my age were going to colleges far away, or felt they had to live on campus to get the “full college experience.” I wanted to prove that you can have a fulfilling college experience without actually living there.

I feel like I have grown a lot during my time at Monmouth. When I was a freshman, I was but a wee bud, and now I am half-way to becoming a full-fledged chrysanthemum (almost). I was able to discover my strengths and weaknesses, and discover where my passions really lie. I never thought I would consider becoming a journalist or photographer, but they seem like real possibilities to me now. I am thankful that Monmouth has given the opportunities to be the student I am today.